Tuesday, December 15, 2009

My parents met on a blind date set up by my dad's uncle who at the time happened to work with my mom.

Twenty-eight years later, they're still together and still hold hands and look at each other with goo-goo eyes.

Here's the thing fun part: They got married two weeks after their blind date. They went to Atlantic City and were married by a Justice of the Peace. They'd both been married before, both been cheated on and run-out on. And when they met each other, they just knew.

My mom's mom (Nana) was not convinced Mama PT knew what she was doing. Nana didn't understand what her preppy, Presbyterian, Evan-Piccone-suite-wearing-school-librarian-daughter saw in Papa PT - a rough and tough electrician who wore belt buckles and cowboy boots and sported permed hair (Hey, it was the late 80's ok?) and *gasp* was a Croat and Catholic!

So when Ma PT went to Nana to tell her that they were doing to Atlantic City on May 18th, 1981 to get married, Nana's response was "Oh no you're not."

They got married anyway. And eventually, Nana accepted Pa PT. Not when Sara was born a year later. Not when I was born a year after that. It wasn't until a decade later when Nana was sick and Papa PT drove her to dialysis three times a week that Nana finally loved my dad - and actually told him as much.

... This is all to say that it hasn't always been easy for Ma PT to accept Jason. In fact, for the majority of the first year we were together, my mom actively disliked him in much the same way Nana actively disliked my dad - without provocation or reason. She has gotten warmer with Jason and Jason knows he needs to work for it a bit too.

Last night, Ma PT and I were talking and randomly - in the middle of talking about Christmas cookies and the Christmas Day dinner menu - my mom said to me, "I don't know if you've noticed, but I've been more accepting of Jason. I'm not going to be to you how my mother was with me."

So we had a little cry about that and then we went back to talking about sugar cookies. Like you do.